Method of sorting, displaying, and dealing cards

ABSTRACT

A method of sorting, displaying, and dealing a deck of cards to allow one or more players an opportunity to memorize an order of one or more of the cards, such that card games may become games of memorization and recall abilities. The method may comprise displaying a facing side of each card such that players may memorize an order of at least some of the cards, positioning the cards in a stack such that the order of the cards is not changed, dividing or cutting the stack into a top portion and a bottom portion, showing the players the facing side of a cut card, placing the top portion together with the bottom portion such that the top portion and the bottom portion exchange positions within the stack, and dealing the cards to the players without changing the order of the cards as they are dealt.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This nonprovisional patent application claims priority benefit, with regard to all common subject matter, of earlier-filed U.S. provisional patent application titled “Skill Based Method of Conducting Card Games as an Exercise in Memorization, Thereby Eliminating the Element of Chance”, Ser. No. 61/085,061, filed Jul. 31, 2008, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into the present application.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the present invention relate to dealing playing cards. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of sorting, displaying, and dealing playing cards to change a card game into a card game of memorization and recall abilities.

Card games, particularly card games of chance, such as various versions of poker, are played using a deck of cards, each having different identifying features. For example, each card may have a suit, such as spades, diamonds, hearts, and/or clubs, and a rank, such as two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, king, or ace. Traditionally, a dealer or one of the players will shuffle and deal the cards to each of the players. The game is considered to be a game of chance because the cards dealt to each individual player are only shown to that player and not the dealer or the other players. Thus, skill in poker typically requires an ability to “read” somebody's actions, reactions, body language, and facial expressions to determine if the individual is pleased or disappointed with the cards they've been given. However, some individuals are not very emotional about the game, or may fake particular emotions to confuse the other players. Furthermore, if an individual is playing poker on a computer, the individual may not be able to view other players' faces and body language. Some players use an illegal strategy known as “counting cards”, which requires keeping track of how many of each card has been played or revealed during the game to determine what cards have not yet been played. This allows the player to narrow the possibilities of what the next card may be, but does not entirely remove the element of chance or probability from the game. Therefore, even those considered skilled in card games of chance sometimes must rely on probability and luck when deciding on their next move.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention solve at least some of the above-mentioned problems and provide a distinct advance in the art of card games. More particularly, embodiments of the invention provide a method of sorting, displaying, and dealing a deck of cards to allow one or more players an opportunity to memorize an order of at least some of the cards, such that card games, such as card games of chance and probability, may become games of memorization and recall abilities.

Embodiments of the invention may be practiced with a deck of cards comprising a plurality of card suits with each suit including a plurality of cards each having different ranks or point values. One embodiment is a method that first comprises shuffling an order of the cards. The method may further comprise displaying at least a portion of a facing side of each card such that an identity or point value of each of the cards is recognizable by the players so that the players may memorize an order of at least some of the cards. The facing side of each of the cards may be displayed to the players by at least one of fanning the cards in a dealer's hand, fanning the cards on a surface, spreading the cards on a surface, and flipping each card one at a time to reveal the facing side of each card in successive order.

Next, the method may comprise positioning the cards in a stack such that the order of the cards is not changed, then dividing or cutting the stack into a top portion and a bottom portion and showing the players the facing side of a cut card. The method may further comprise placing the top portion together with the bottom portion such that the top portion and the bottom portion exchange positions within the stack, and then dealing the cards to the players without changing the order of the cards as they are dealt.

Specifically, a dealer may deal a number of cards corresponding with a card game to be played. Then the dealer and/or any of the players may conduct a card game, such as poker, Texas Hold Em', Omaha, Hi-Lo, High Only, Stud, and Razz. The invention sharpens the players' memorization skills by encouraging them to memorize one or more of the cards in a deck and to attempt to predict the cards that are dealt based on memorization and recall abilities.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary deck of cards that may be used to practice embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a facing side of one of the cards of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a non-facing side of one of the cards of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of an exemplary processor, display, and user interface that may be used in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method of dealing the cards of FIG. 1 according to embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the deck of FIG. 1, illustrating how to cut the deck;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the deck of FIG. 1, illustrating how to show or reveal a facing side of a cut card of the deck; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the deck of FIG. 1, illustrating how to place a top portion of the cards together with a bottom portion of the cards such that the top and bottom portion exchange places.

The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specific embodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of the invention references the accompanying drawings that illustrate specific embodiments in which the invention can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can be utilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Embodiments of the invention may be practiced with a deck 10 of cards 12 illustrated in FIG. 1. The cards 12 may be any type of cards and may comprise a facing side 14, as illustrated in FIG. 2, and a non-facing side 16, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The non-facing side 16 may be opposite of the facing side 14. The facing sides 14 of each of the cards 12 may display unique numbers, letters, colors, symbols, and/or designs for differentiating each card from every other card in the deck 10. The non-facing side 16 of the card may be absent a design and/or may have the same markings and designs as each and every other card in the deck 10.

In one embodiment of the invention, the deck 10 of cards 12 may be a traditional deck of fifty-two playing cards including thirteen ranks of each of the four suits: diamonds (♦), spades (

), hearts (♡) and clubs (

). Each suit may include an ace, depicting a single symbol of its suit; a king, queen, and jack, each depicted with a symbol of its suit; and ranks two through ten, with each card depicting that many symbols of its suit. However, the suit, rank, or point value of the cards 12 may be displayed on the facing side 14 of the cards 12 using any of a limitless number of designs, colors, numbers, symbols, and/or letters. In various embodiments of the invention, one or more joker cards sometimes included in commercial card decks may be removed before play.

The cards 12 may be made of a variety of materials and may be any size desired. In some embodiments of the invention, the cards 12 may be virtual, displayed via a processor 18 on a display 20 such as a computer screen, as illustrated in FIG. 4. The processor 18 may perform or simulate any combination of the steps of method 100, including steps performed by a dealer or a player as described below. Furthermore, the processor 18 may comprise and/or be communicably coupled with a user interface 22, allowing an external user or player to interact with and/or instruct the processor 18 in a card game.

The processor 18 may include any number of processors, controlling devices, integrated circuits, programmable logic devices, or other computing devices and resident or external memory (not shown) for storing data and other information accessed and/or generated by the user interface 22 or the display 20. The memory may include, for example, removable and non-removable memory elements such as RAM, ROM, flash, magnetic, optical, USB memory devices, and/or other conventional memory elements.

The memory may store an amount of cards, a type of each of the cards, rules for various card games, and/or instructions for displaying and dealing the cards according to methods described below. The memory may also store data recorded during the game to provide statistics and information regarding the game to a user or player of the game in real time via the display 20 or in the future to be downloaded for analysis. Further, the processor 18, the user interface 22, and the display 20 may be integral and/or communicably coupled, and may be combined or separate or otherwise discrete elements.

A computer program of the present invention may be stored in or on a computer-usable medium, such as a computer-readable medium, residing on or accessible by the processor 18 to implement methods of the present invention as described herein. The computer program may comprise an ordered listing of executable instructions for implementing logical functions in the processor 18 and other computing devices coupled with the processor 18. The computer program can be embodied in any computer-usable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, and execute the instructions.

The ordered listing of executable instructions comprising the computer program of the present invention will hereinafter be referred to simply as “the program” or “the computer program.” It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the program may comprise a single list of executable instructions or two or more separate lists, and may be stored on a single computer-usable medium or multiple distinct media. The program will also be described as comprising various “code segments,” which may include one or more lists, or portions of lists, of executable instructions. Code segments may include overlapping lists of executable instructions, that is, a first code segment may include instruction lists A and B, and a second code segment may include instruction lists B and C.

In the context of this document, a “computer-usable medium” can be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-usable medium can be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semi-conductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific, although not inclusive, examples of computer-usable media would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable, programmable, read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact disk read-only memory (CDROM).

The display 20 may display visual representations of each of the cards 12 as well as a visual representation of a dealing of the cards, such that the order and amount of cards dealt may be viewed by the user or player. The display 20 may be coupled with the processor 18 and may display various information corresponding to the card game. The display 20 may comprise conventional black and white, monochrome, or color display elements including CRT, TFT, LCD, and/or plasma display devices. In various embodiments of the invention, the display 20 may be a touch-screen display to enable the user to interact with it by touching or pointing at display areas to provide information to the processor 18.

The user interface 22 may permit a user or player to enter rules, request challenges, enter a skill level, enter a selection of a particular card game, and make various card or bet-related selection and placement decisions required to play the card game. The user interface 22, for example, may comprise one or more functionable inputs such as switches, knobs, dials, buttons, scroll wheels, a touch screen, voice recognition elements such as a microphone, pointing devices such as mice, touchpads, tracking balls, or styluses, a camera such as a digital or film still or video camera, and combinations thereof. In another example, the user interface 22 may include a TransFlash card slot for receiving removable TransFlash cards and a USB port for coupling with a USB cable connected to another computing device such as a personal computer. The user interface 22 may comprise wired or wireless data transfer elements such as a removable memory or data transceivers, to enable the user and other devices or parties to remotely interface with the processor 18.

The above-described deck 10 of cards 12 may be used to implement a method comprising sorting, displaying, and dealing the cards 12 in such a way as to allow one or more players an opportunity to memorize an order of at least some of the cards 12. By memorizing the order of at least some of the cards 12, decisions in card games, such as card games of chance and probability, may be based more on each players' memory and recall abilities of the order of some or all of the cards 12 to determine which player has what card and when.

The flow chart of FIG. 5 depicts the steps of an exemplary method 100 of the invention in more detail. In this regard, some of the blocks of the flow chart may be performed by a person or may represent a module segment or portion of code of the computer programs stored in or accessible by the processor 18. In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the various blocks may occur out of the order depicted in FIG. 5. For example, two blocks shown in succession in FIG. 5 may in fact be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order depending upon the functionality involved. Steps may also be added to or omitted from method 100 without departing from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims.

The method 100, illustrated in FIG. 5, may first comprise shuffling the deck 10 of cards 12, as depicted in step 102. Shuffling may or may not be necessary, depending on what game is to be played and the previous order of the cards 12. Shuffling may include any known methods of randomly or semi-randomly changing an order of the cards 12 within the deck 10.

As depicted in step 104, the dealer may display at least a portion of the facing side 14 of each card to at least one of the players so that the player or players may memorize an order of at least some of the cards 12. The portion of the facing side 14 of each card must be sufficient that the cards 12 may be distinguished from one another. For example, enough of at least one corner section of each of the cards 12 may be displayed so that a color, symbol, letter, design, and/or number (such as a diamond symbol and the number nine) may be seen. Displaying the facing side 14 of each card may be accomplished using a variety of techniques. For example, the dealer may fan the cards in a hand of the dealer, fan the cards on a surface, spread the cards on a surface in a variety of configurations, and flip each card, one at a time, to reveal the facing side 14 of each card in successive order.

Depending on the method or style in which the cards 12 are displayed to the players, a particular amount of time may be granted for the players to memorize the cards 12. The amount of time may be fixed or may vary based on additional factors such as a pre-determined skill level of the player or players, the type of game to be played, and/or an amount of time requested by one or more of the players. For example, the amount of time may be three seconds to five seconds long, or up to 10 seconds long. In another example, the amount of time may be an amount of time allowed per card or an amount of time allowed per deck of cards.

Note that the dealer may be one or more of the players or may be a third party not participating in playing the card game. Furthermore, players may take turns serving as the dealer. In embodiments where the method is implemented on a computer, the computer may serve as the dealer, one or more of the players or users of the computer may serve as the dealer, or the player(s) and/or the computer may take turns serving as the dealer.

After the cards 12 are displayed, the cards 12 may be positioned in a stack 24, as depicted in step 106 and illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6, such that the order of the cards is not changed and the non-facing sides 16 of the cards 12 are each facing the same direction. The cards may be recollected and positioned into the stack 24 through any method which allows the cards 12 to be maintained in the same order in which they were displayed. The stack 24 may have a top card 32, a bottom card 34 located opposite of the top card 32, and a plurality of intermediate cards 36 located therebetween, as illustrated in FIG. 6.

As depicted in step 108 and FIG. 6, the stack 24 may be divided into a top portion 26 and a bottom portion 28. While the stack 24 is resting on a surface, the bottom portion 28 may be the portion that was positioned underneath the top portion 26. However, note that if the cards 12 are held in a hand of the dealer or are virtual cards on a computer screen, bottom portion 28 and top portion 26 do not necessarily refer to one portion being located beneath the other. The top portion 26 and the bottom portion 28 may comprise any number or percentage of the cards 12. For example, the cards may be divided evenly between the top portion 26 and the bottom portion 28; the top portion 26 may comprise more cards 12 than the bottom portion 28; or the bottom portion 28 may comprise more cards 12 than the top portion 26. In some embodiments of the invention, either the top portion 26 or the bottom portion 28 may comprise as little as one card.

As depicted in step 110 and FIG. 7, the method 100 may further comprise showing at least one player the facing side 14 of a cut card 30. The cut card 30 may be the card of the top portion 26 of the stack 24 which was immediately adjacent to the bottom portion 28 of the stack 24 prior to dividing the stack.

As depicted in step 112 and FIG. 8, the top portion 26 of the stack 24 may then be placed back together with the bottom portion 28 of the stack 24. Specifically, the top portion 26 and the bottom portion 28 may exchange places in the stack 24. Subsequently, the cut card 30 may become the bottom card 34 of the stack 24, one of the intermediate cards 36 of the bottom portion 28 may become the top card 32, and the previous top card 32 may become one of the intermediate cards 36. When resting on the surface, such as a table, the bottom portion 28 may be located above the top portion 26 once step 112 is performed.

Next, as depicted in step 114, the dealer may deal the cards to the players in a manner such that players can not see the facing sides 14 of each other player's cards 12. Specifically, the dealer may deal the cards 12 in a manner such that the players can see how many cards are given to each player and in what order the cards are dealt. In this way, the players may attempt to use their memory of the order of at least some of the cards 12, their recall abilities, and knowledge of who received the top card 25 and each subsequent card to keep track of who has which cards without seeing the facing side 14 of the cards 12 as they are dealt. Dealing may comprise giving one card at a time, starting with the top card 25 of the stack 24, to the players in a consistent order. For example, the dealer may give a first card to each player and then give a second card to each player in the same order that the first cards were dealt. Alternatively, the dealer may sequentially give a required number of cards to a first player and then sequentially give a required number of cards to a second player and so on until each of the players has the required number of cards. The number of cards dealt to each player may correspond with the number of cards required for a particular card game to be played.

As depicted in step 116, once the cards 12 are dealt, a card game may be conducted by the dealer, players, and/or the processor 18. The card game may be any card game in which cards are dealt to one or more players. In some embodiments of the invention, the card game may be any card game based on chance or probability. For example, the card game may be any form of poker, Texas Hold Em', Omaha, Hi-Lo, High Only, Stud, and/or Razz. Though a game of chance is referred to in step 116, please note that any card game using a deck of cards and requiring each player to receive a certain number of cards may be used in method 100 without departing from the scope of this invention.

The invention may sharpen the players' memorization skills by encouraging them to memorize one or more of the cards in a deck and to attempt to predict the cards that are dealt based on memorization and recall abilities. For players having advanced memorization skills, more than one deck of cards may be used and/or the deck may be cut or divided as described above more than one time.

In some embodiments of the invention, various entry fees may be collected by a dealer or another individual or organization as a condition of becoming one of the players in the card game. Entry fees and payments given or received among players and/or the dealer may be decided based on a variety of criteria. In one embodiment of the invention, if an individual previously playing the game decides not to play a particular game or round of a game, then that player may forfeit the game. In this embodiment, the dealer may still deal cards 12 to that player's position so as not to disrupt the order of the cards, and then may collect the cards of the player who forfeited and place those cards in a discard or burn pile until the game or round is completed.

In various embodiments of the invention, players may challenge specific other players to a game of memory, wherein the dealer deals to the players involved in the challenge only, using the method 100 described above. The stakes of the challenge may be set by the player requesting the challenge, the challenged player(s), and/or the dealer.

Although the invention has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is noted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims. 

1. A method of dealing cards to one or more players, wherein the cards have a facing side and a non-facing side, to change a card game into a card game of memorization and recall abilities, the method comprising: displaying at least a portion of the facing side of each card to at least one of the players in an order such that the player may attempt to memorize the order of at least some of the cards; positioning the cards in a stack such that the order of the cards is not changed and the non-facing sides of the cards are each facing the same direction; and dealing the cards to the players without changing the order of the cards as they are dealt and in a manner such that players can not see the facing sides of each other player's cards.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: dividing the stack into a top portion and a bottom portion after positioning the cards in the stack; showing the at least one player the facing side of a cut card, wherein the cut card is the card of the top portion of the stack which was adjacent to the bottom portion of the stack prior to dividing the stack; and placing the top portion of the stack together with the bottom portion of the stack such that the top portion and the bottom portion exchange positions within the stack prior to dealing the cards to the players.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising shuffling the order of the cards prior to displaying the facing side of each card.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the cards comprise a plurality of card suits with each suit including a plurality of cards each having different point values.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying at least a portion of the facing side of each of the cards may comprise at least one of fanning the cards in a dealer's hand, fanning the cards on a surface, spreading the cards on a surface, and flipping each card one at a time to reveal the facing side of each card in successive order.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying at least a portion of the facing side of each of the cards comprises displaying enough of the facing side of each card that an identity or point value of each of the cards is recognizable by the players.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein dealing the cards to the players further comprises dealing a number of cards corresponding with a card game to be played.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising conducting a card game after dealing the cards to the players.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the card game is at least one of poker, Texas Hold Em', Omaha, Hi-Lo, High Only, Stud, and Razz.
 10. A method of dealing cards to one or more players, wherein the cards have a facing side and a non-facing side, to change a card game into a game of memorization and recall abilities, the method comprising: displaying at least a portion of the facing side of each card to at least one of the players in an order such that the player may attempt to memorize the order of at least some of the cards; positioning the cards in a stack such that the order of the cards is not changed and the non-facing sides of the cards are each facing the same direction; dividing the stack into a top portion and a bottom portion; showing the at least one player the facing side of a cut card, wherein the cut card is the card of the top portion of the stack which was adjacent to the bottom portion of the stack prior to dividing the stack; placing the top portion of the stack together with the bottom portion of the stack such that the top portion and the bottom portion exchange positions within the stack; and dealing the cards to the players without changing the order of the cards as they are dealt.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising shuffling the order of the cards prior to displaying the facing side of each card.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the cards comprise a plurality of card suits with each suit including a plurality of cards each having different point values.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein displaying at least a portion of the facing side of each of the cards may comprise at least one of fanning the cards in a dealer's hand, fanning the cards on a surface, spreading the cards on a surface, and flipping each card one at a time to reveal the facing side of each card in successive order.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein displaying at least a portion of the facing side of each of the cards comprises displaying a large enough portion of the facing side of each card that an identity or point value of each of the cards is recognizable by the players.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein dealing the cards to the players further comprises dealing a number of cards corresponding with a card game to be played.
 16. The method of claim 10, further comprising conducting a card game after dealing the cards to the players.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the card game is at least one of poker, Texas Hold Em', Omaha, Hi-Lo, High Only, Stud, and Razz.
 18. A method of dealing cards to one or more players, wherein the cards have a facing side and a non-facing side, to change a card game into a game of memorization and recall abilities, the method comprising: shuffling the cards; displaying at least a portion of the facing side of each card to at least one of the players in an order such that the at least one player may memorize the order of at least some of the cards, wherein the portion of the facing side of each card is large enough that at least one of an identity and point value of each of the cards is recognizable by the players; positioning the cards in a stack such that the order of the cards is not changed and the non-facing sides of the cards are each facing the same direction; dividing the stack into a top portion and a bottom portion; showing the at least one player the facing side of a cut card, wherein the cut card is the card of the top portion of the stack which was adjacent to the bottom portion of the stack prior to dividing the stack; placing the top portion of the stack together with the bottom portion of the stack such that the top portion and the bottom portion exchange positions within the stack; dealing the cards to the players without changing the order of the cards as they are dealt; and conducting a card game. 